Harboring Pressure
by Wesz
Summary: There's a full moon coming up, and Scott's feeling very...paternal. So it's not completely unlike him when he tries to corner his beta multiple times in an obsessive attempt to help - even though it turns out he has been wrong the whole time.


Based on a prompt by: stilinskiismybatman

* * *

There was something about the upcoming full moon that made Scott feel…broody. Yes, Stiles had laughed – or nearly pissed himself – too when Scott had explained it like that. Thinking of it afterwards, it did sound silly. But it was the only word Scott could find that described his feelings. You have to realise though, he had always been a caring guy, maybe a bit too much even at times. So when he became an alpha, a leader, that's when that instinct grew. He was responsible of a pact now, had an official obligation to take care of them. Add to that a full moon – a night where new werewolves, who don't know how to anchor themselves yet, go crazy – and that instinct blossoms into a full obsession.

He had seen it and experienced it countless times before: Derek making sure that Erica, Boyd, and Isaac were alright; Stiles chaining up Scott; Stiles helping Malia; Scott and Stiles having to find a naked Liam running through the night. After so many of those experiences, just sensing a full moon coming up was enough for Scott's paternal instincts to kick in.

Paternal. That's how he should have called it.

The full moon was due Thursday night. Stiles had informed Scott of that after his weird remark about feeling like he wanted to reproduce. Thursday was a good day, found Scott, because it meant four days of school before that, which meant being able to keep a close eye on his pack without being too obvious about it – he was aware his caring nature tended to piss people off sometimes.

Malia seemed to be fine, and, to be completely honest, Scott didn't expect anything else from her. She was strong and had clearly found an anchor for herself.

He didn't have to worry about Kira either, because she wasn't affected by the moon. The same went for Lydia. Stiles was acting a little fidgety, but Stiles was always fidgety, and still not a werewolf.

Liam-

"Hey, watch where you going, you stupid-"

That confirmed what Scott had already expected. He smiled at the shorter boy in front of him, whose cheeks flushed when he realised he had actually been insulting his alpha, and not a random stranger in the hallway.

"Scott," Liam said, flustered. "Scott, hi. I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

The older guy chuckled. "And clearly I didn't see you either."

He crouched down to help Liam pick up the books he had dropped in their collision. Scott couldn't help but read some of the titles. "Got a big History test coming up?" he asked.

"Exams," Liam answered, yanking the books from Scott's hands. "Sorry," he mumbled again, this time not daring to look up at his alpha.

Scott's comforting smile didn't leave his face. He was about to remind Liam to anchor himself a bit more often for the next few days, but before he could the boy had said a "gotta go" and ran off.

On Tuesday Scott informed Stiles about what had happened, and asked him to keep an eye on Liam as well. Sitles sighed, groaned, whined, exhaled, and made a snide – and slightly inappropriate – remark about having to expect to see Liam naked again. Scott reminded him that he didn't seem to mind so much last time, and Stiles stared at him with his mouth agape. Truth be told, Stiles at a loss for words didn't happen often, so Scott victoriously marched towards his next class.

They had lacrosse training later that afternoon. There was an important game coming up on Saturday, which Scott was reminded of several times when he messed up a shot by coach screaming at him. Now, Scott could handle that kind of pressure. After being on the team for two years he had gotten used to it. Coach seemed to realise this too, which meant he shifted his focus to the other star player on the team.

Liam.

"Uh oh…" Stiles mumbled in his ear as he and Scott watched Coach have a go at their friend.

Liam's hands tightened its grip on his stick and he was visibly clenching his jaw. Scott could see him do it, even through his helmet.

"He's gonna explode…" Stiles sang quietly.

Scott sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, chewing on it softly. He could hear Liam whisper suppressed 'sorry's' and Coach continuously screaming at him if he wanted to be on the team and get into college afterwards, forcefully reminding him that a lacrosse scholarship was the only chance he had, given that he was as thick as a walnut.

"Dude, you have to do something," Stiles said.

Scott knew he was right. His mind was racing, trying to think of a solution. He needed a distraction. His eyes flicked over the field, towards the other players and the trees behind the field and the bleachers and the bags and the first aid kit on the bottom row of the benches and…

He turned to his best friend. "I'm so sorry," Scott said with a guilty look on his face.

Stiles frowned. "For what?"

Scott hooked his foot behind Stiles ankle and with a swift pull launched Stiles towards the ground. His friend screeched. "Dude, what the-"

"Act," Scott hissed.

In a split second Stiles knew what he meant. He closed his eyes and rested his head in the grass, panting heavily.

"Coach!" Scott called. "Coach I think Stiles passed out again."

The man turned around, looking like he was about to rip out of his skin. "Stilinski!" he shouted. "Get up! Get up, now! Stilinski!"

He walked over and when he crouched down, Scott quietly backed away. He jogged up to Liam, putting a hand on his shoulder. Liam's body was radiating tension and Scott squeezed him.

"Calm down," he said. "There's a full moon coming up, remember? That's why you're so on edge."

Liam shook Scott's hand off. "Thanks for that, captain Obvious," he grumbled. "You think I don't know that?"

Scott's face fell. "No…I just wanted to, you know, remind you to take it easy."

"I can't take it easy," Liam replied, digging the end of his stick into the dirt. "I have a million things to do. My parents are going out of town in a couple of weeks and they've been on my ass about chores and responsibility when I'm home alone, I've got that test on Friday, and I don't know if you've forgotten already, but we have a pretty important game on Saturday. So, if you don't mind, I'll take it easy later. Maybe next week."

Scott's lips formed a thin line, nodding. There was a nasty feeling in his stomach and his heart ached a little bit. It was a horrible feeling. Like when you're a dad and you realise for the first time that your kid doesn't need your help all the time anymore.

Liam stormed off past Scott and started taking shots at the goal again. The rest of the team was still standing over Stiles.

On Wednesday, Scott saw Liam in the hallway on his way to class. There were visible bags under his eyes and Scott wondered if the boy had stayed up studying all night. Scott's heart throbbed. It was safe to say his growth in paternal instincts came with an intensified sense of rejection as well. But Scott realized that couldn't be as bad as being a teenage werewolf with I.E.D., who was still quite a victim to the full moon, whilst also dealing with a lot of stress.

He felt for Liam. Probably because Scott understood him so well. He knew exactly what Liam was like. The boy had been stressed for a couple of weeks now about his test, that's how it all started. Then, his parents sat him down at the dinner table and announced that they wanted to have a weekend to themselves, which meant Liam was going to be home alone, but because Liam was behind on his chores or sometimes didn't do them, his parents were hesitative to assume he could handle the responsibility. What they didn't know was that Liam was falling behind with his chores, because he was focusing on his test.

On top of that, Coach had been extra hard on him the past couple of trainings, because he, in his turn, was stressing about the game against Devenford on Saturday. So Liam was left to swallow even more frustration, which was a dangerous situation, because frustration fed Liam's I.E.D. bucket, and if that bucket got too full and started spilling, resulted into aggressive outbursts. And Liam was already very strong, so if it was up to Scott – and it was – he would do anything to prevent an apocalyptic explosion.

Now, Scott knew Liam wasn't the greatest multitasker, which was fine, to each their own. Liam was just better at things when he could focus on one thing, but he hadn't mastered the skill of focusing on one thing yet. So he was just trying to stay on top of everything, hold all these responsibilities in the air, trying to spend a little time on each of them regularly and continue to juggle them around. But Scott knew Liam was a horrible juggler.

And of course, as icing on the cake, half of Liam's mind was trying to not let the upcoming full moon bother him as much.

Even thinking about it made Scott feel like even he was going to collapse under all that imaginative pressure. Ah, yes, an upcoming full moon also meant an increasing sense of empathy.

He was shook out of his thoughts when Stiles suddenly appeared before him during lunch. His eyes were wide, and he was panting a little. Clearly he had ran over to find Scott.

"I think we have a problem," he said nervously.

Scott frowned, but instead of asking what was going on followed Stiles to the cafeteria, alarm bells going off in his head. They neared the doors and Scott could already hear two familiar voices arguing. Stiles pointed towards Liam and Hayden, who were standing opposite each other, screaming. The rest of the students watched them with second-hand embarrassment clear on their faces.

"Hayden, I don't have time for this."

"What do you mean you don't have time? You better make time. I'm your girlfriend, Liam. I should be the number one priority in your life."

"Oh my God," Scott mumbled.

"I know right? Bet you're thinking twice about having children now," Stiles snickered.

"We have to do something," Scott said. "They look like they might rip each other apart." He noticed Liam's clenched fists. His knuckles were white.

"Yeah, about that…" Stiles replied "…I mean, this is just something to consider – something I think we should consider. You know, an option. A choice."

Scott threw him an impatient look.

"If one of them does kill the other then we'll have one less to watch," Stiles offered with a big smile. "I prefer Hayden."

"Stiles."

"Come on, it makes sense! Then we can both focus on one instead of on one each."

Scott's heads flicked away when the faint smell of blood crept into his nose.

"You take Hayden, I take Liam," he said. "Come on, go."

Stiles groaned, but complied, and both boys crossed the room and grabbed each of the young werewolves by the arm. They tried to ignore the amount of people watching them.

"Hey, calm down," Scott hissed after he had taken hold of LIam. "Everyone's looking."

Liam turned, eyes flashing yellow for a brief moment. Scott tightened his grip and started dragging him out of the cafeteria. From the corner of his eyes he could see Stiles trying to talk sense into Hayden.

"Scott, let go. I'm fine," Liam objected, trying to break away.

Scott stopped walking, turning around and holding up Liam's arm. "Unclench your fist and tell me you're fine again."

Liam narrowed his eyes. He loosened his fingers and his werewolf nails appeared out from under his skin. There was blood on his palms. Scott raised his eyebrows in an I-told-you-so-manner and Liam let himself be dragged to the men's toilets. Once in there, Scott moved his grip to Liam's wrist. "Show me," he mumbled.

Liam let out a deep sigh through his nose, failing to mask his annoyance. However, Scott ignored it and started cleaning Liam's hand with a wet paper towel.

"Scott I'm not a child," Liam complained.

"I know you're not," Scott replied. "But clearly you need help. What if anyone saw you wolfed out?"

Liam yanked his hand away. "But they didn't!"

Scott sighed, pushing down his own frustration, reminding himself you can't fight force with force. Knocking two stones together only cause more sparks.

"It's because the full moon's coming," he said. "You know it's because of that, right?"

"Would you stop going on about that? I'm not like this because of the full moon!" Liam exclaimed, turning on the tab before holding his hand under the cold stream.

"Then why are you?"

"God, Scott, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Do you remember how to anchor yourself?"

Liam threw up his arms, water splattering everywhere, and let out a frustrated groan. "Oh, come on!"

"Remember to focus on your anchor, on Hayden, and hold on to it."

"You're unbelievable!" Liam exclaimed. "You're not even listening!" He balled a fist again and aimed it at the wall, but Scott was quicker and was now straining him again.

"Why were you and Hayden fighting?" he asked.

Liam shrugged. Scott waited patiently for a more sufficient answer.

"She was angry, because we haven't done anything for a while. She kept going on and on about how she wasn't my first priority and that I should make more time to spend with her and blah blah blah. She got really pissed off about it."

Scott loosened his grip, glad that Liam shared. It looked like they were finally starting to get somewhere.

"The only reason she's so irritable is because she's on edge too."

"I already told you, I'm fine."

"Well, still, you shouldn't take everything she says so seriously, especially not now. Hayden's still getting used to being a werewolf."

Liam seemed unimpressed. "Whatever. She can go to hell is she doesn't get used to it quickly, 'cause I'm not letting myself be pushed around. I have a life, you know."

He took a step back and showed his hand. "Look, all healed," he said, before walking off.

Scott watched him go, blowing a raspberry when the bathroom door fell shut.

On Thursday afternoon, Scott figured it was his last chance to talk some sense into Liam. Tonight was the full moon and if he couldn't convince Liam to spend it together, Scott might be spending the early morning hours running after an aggressive werewolf.

"How's Hayden doing?" he asked Stiles before their classes started.

"Well, I managed to calm her down yesterday. However, she's still dead set on breaking up with Liam. I'm telling you, that girl has a flair for the dramatic, which is actually surprising, given her temper. Normally people who are dramatic aren't so aggressive."

"Well, normally people aren't werewolves," Scott said with a nervous chuckle.

"Point well taken. How's Liam?"

"Three times Hayden."

"Have I told you how glad I am with this division?"

"There's just no getting through to him," Scott admitted. "I'm running out of ideas."

Stiles nodded, thinking. "Do you know why he's having such a tough time all of a sudden? We've sat through full moons with him before and he never was this bad. I mean, the worst times were at the beginning, but that was because he hadn't found his anchor yet."

"I think it's because he's pushing his anchor away now," Scott explained. "He and Hayden haven't seen each other much lately and now with the fight…"

Stiles hummed understandingly. "Makes sense. You know, if you want, you can still drag Liam over to mine tonight and watch him there? That way he and Hayden will be together. Maybe it helps."

Scott shook his head. "I'm not a hundred per cent sure if that's going to make a difference. I'm just going to try and talk to him again today."

Stiles didn't say anything else, which Scott knew meant that he didn't have much faith in the idea. To be fair, Scott had very little either, but he had try something, and putting Liam and Hayden together now just didn't seem like a good idea. Especially not after their fight yesterday. If Liam gets so wound up about Hayden that he doesn't even notice he's digging his nails into his hands until they bleed, then Scott's definitely keeping them apart for now.

He found his beta later that day in the library, during a free period. The boy was sat bent over a textbook, hands tangled in his hair. A shiver crept down Scott's spine. The room was thick with frustration. Not that anyone who wasn't a werewolf would notice.

He walked up to Liam and lightly put a hand on his shoulder. The boy startled and looked up, clearly annoyed that his concentration was interrupted.

"What are you reading?" asked Scott as he moved around the table and sat down across from Liam, even though he wasn't invited to.

Liam glared at him through his eyelashes for a moment before he answered by holding up the cover of his book.

"Ah, for your exam tomorrow," Scott remembered.

Liam nodded. His eyes fell back to the text.

Scott was unwelcome and aware of this, but he pushed the feeling aside. He needed to get through to Liam, and although it wasn't going to be easy, he also wasn't going to give up. Scott didn't think of himself as the stubborn type, but when it came to helping his friends there was no doubt he was. However, he'd like to think of it more as determination. It sounded more positive.

"Do you have a second to talk?" he asked.

"Not really," Liam answered, eyes trained on the book.

Okay, maybe he should have seen that one coming.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to spend the night together," Scott said. He noticed how wrong that sounded afterwards, but resist the urge to correct himself. After all, the worst thing that could happen is that it would elicit a response from Liam.

The boy looked up, frowning. "You're doing that thing again where you don't realize what you're saying," he pointed out.

Scott cocked his head and then smiled, scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry," he tried to sound sincere. "I mean, tonight's the full moon and all, so I thought you might want to stick together."

Liam huffed out a deep breath. There were needles poking at Scott's skin again – annoyance.

"Scott, I'm fine. I already told you yesterday. And the day before. And on Monday."

"See, but I don't think you are," Scott blurted out. Liam gave him a surprised look, because his alpha had never said something like that before. Scott would never force his concern upon someone – well, not by putting words in his mouth anyway. "I think you're more affected by the upcoming full moon than you think, and now that you've also pushed Hayden, your anchor, away, tonight's going to be really difficult for you. And I think you're underestimating it."

Liam scoffed. "It sounds more like you're the one underestimating me."

Scott frowned, taking offensive to that. He would never think less of anyone in his pack. The only reason he was being this confrontational is because it was the only way to get through to Liam. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an extreme mantra for the current situation, but still, Liam had continuously refused Scott's gentle nudges for help, so the next step was slamming in in his face full frontal.

"Am I right? Are you having a hard time?" Scott decided to ignore Liam's comment. "Do you feel more on edge lately? Nervous? Do you sense something throwing a tantrum inside your chest? Needles poking at your skin?"

Liam grimaced. "What do you want, _Dad_?"

"For you to let me help you."

"I don't need your help."

"I think you do."

"I don't."

Scott's head fell forward towards the table, throwing up his hands. "Liam," he pleaded, sighing deeply. "Do you want me to beg?"

"No, I want you to go away," Liam answered. "Go on. There are more important things I have to worry about, trust me. The full moon is the last thing on my mind."

"Liam-"

"Leave, Scott."

Scott closed his mouth. He drummed his fingers on the table for a second, looking away, then at Liam, and away again, before he stood up. "Fine," he said, admitting defeat. He took a few steps, but then turned back around again. "Look, I know I can be a little intense during these times, but I… I care about you, Liam."

But his beta didn't reply, didn't even flinch at his words.

So as Scott walked out of the library he realized that the only thing left to do was to just get ready for the night, and be on his guard when something goes down. He got his phone out of his pocket and as he walked to his next class, opened a group chat, asking the pack if they were going to be alright. Everyone replied that they were – even Hayden – but Liam didn't. However, Scott noticed he had read the message.

Needless to say Scott's mood was beaten for the rest of the day. Stiles didn't try to mention it, knowing how bad his friend could take it when his help had been rejected. Scott had a tendency to care a little too much sometimes, and whilst most of the time that wasn't a bad thing, in situations like these it did take its toll. It killed his appetite and his cheery mood. Instead he was just poking around his mom's mac and cheese, not saying much, and at night he couldn't sleep. He kept twisting and turning, bothered. Needles were probing his skin again; the light of the moon falling through the blinds in front of his bedroom window. He could shelter himself from the rays, but refused. There was something about the annoying sensation that he enjoyed at the moment, maybe he was punishing himself for failing to get through to Liam.

Scott's heart jumped. His phone buzzed on his nightstand. He quickly reached over, wincing at the brightness of the screen when he unlocked the device. A message from Stiles let the pack know he and Hayden were doing okay. It was a little after 1am. Scott asked how the rest of them were doing and, surprisingly enough, everyone messaged back in less than a minute. Maybe Scott wasn't the only one on guard during the full moons. It warmed his heart, knowing that they were a strong group.

"Have we heard anything from Liam?" Stiles' message read afterwards.

Scott chewed on his tongue, checking if his beta had read the messages they just sent. He scrolled upwards and clicked on some of them, but Liam hadn't seen any of them. Scott went to see when he had last been online. Late afternoon. He huffed out a deep breath and turned on his side again.

His blanket was soft and normally kind of soothing, but now he kicked it off. It was annoying him. Besides, he was hot. Apparently that was a thing for werewolves. The full moon acted the same as the sun. Scott had only noticed it when he and Stiles had to chase after a naked Liam one night. Scott had asked him afterwards why he had been naked and Liam had simply answered that he was hot. It was then Scott realized he had been experiencing the same feeling during full moons.

Scott turned to his other side once more. Who said Liam wasn't out right now? If he wasn't wolfed out, surely he would reply to the messages – or at least read them. He had made it clear that Scott's concern was bothering him, so then why shouldn't he make an effort to make sure Scott wouldn't bother him again?

The more Scott thought about it, the more it became clear what was going on. Quite frankly, he already knew he was eventually going to give in and go and check on his beta.

He huffed out a deep breath and took his phone from the nightstand again. He decided to call first, just to prove to himself – and indirectly maybe a little bit to Liam – that he wasn't completely obsessed, that he wasn't completely Liam's 'dad'. But after the continuous monotone sounded for a sixth time, Scott knew he was doomed to confirm to the image. At least he would be able to take comfort in the thought that his obsession was well justified.

He got up. Dressed in an old pair of baggy jeans and a jumper, he snuck down the stairs, careful to not wake up his mom. Although, if he explained it was full-moon-werewolf-business that he was attending to, she probably would let him off anyway.

However, not wanting to toy with his luck too much, Scott decided against taking out his motorbike, and started running instead. It made him feel powerful, and a little cheeky; the alpha telling his betas to make sure to control themselves during a full moon, but here he was running on all fours through the silver glowing night himself.

The front of Liam's house was dark, indicating that at least Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar were asleep (Scott knew their bedroom was on this side of the house). He jumped over the fence and into the backyard, where he instantly noticed a faint light coming from one of the upstairs windows. A soft breeze swept up his fringe as he frowned disappointedly. Liam was definitely up.

He took a big leap and jumped, landing on the roof right next to the windowsill. The curtains were drawn, but a small ray of light slipped through an opening in the middle. Scott didn't have to look inside to know his beta was there. He exhaled a sigh of relief. At least he didn't have to start a midnight investigation. For a moment, he enjoyed the waves of Liam's heartbeat that were vibrating through the air; familiar and young, secure and…distorted?

Scott's eyebrows knitted together. Through the rhythmic waves of Liam's heartbeat he suddenly senses pulses of frustration. Of needles. They nipped at Scott's skin every time they passed him, circles of prickling sensation, sending shivers through his body.

He should have figured Liam was having trouble with the full moon. If he weren't then he would've already noticed Scott. Now his concentration was too thick and so focused on not transforming that he didn't notice his alpha sitting right outside his bedroom window.

Scott crept in front of the glass, peeking inside. Liam was sitting at his desk, hands pressed on the sides of his head, making his hair look all messy. Scott sucked in his bottom lip. Liam was wearing a tank top and Scott could make out glimmering beads of sweat trickling down Liam's upper arm. The alpha took a couple of seconds to take the situation in, focused on Liam's lightly shaking body, his bouncing leg. Until his eyes fell on the desk.

Liam was studying.

Scott's jaw dropped an inch, having to admit he was impressed with his beta's determination. Studying with a full moon going on in the background was extremely hard. It was like you wanted to concentrate, but in the meantime wanted to burst out of your skin, because you felt so incredibly uncomfortable in it and everything around you kept annoying and distracting you and then it dawned on Scott and his mouth formed a small 'O'.

He tapped on the window with his finger. Liam looked up, surprised, but then instantly locked eyes with Scott when he turned around.

"Scott?" he asked, opening up. The night air fell into his bedroom. "What are you doing here? I told you, I'm fine."

Scott climbed through the window, clawing the curtains off of him. "You're not fine," he said. "You're frustrated, and tired. I saw."

Liam touched the purple bags under his eyes before he shook his head and walked back to his desk.

Scott closed the window behind him. "Look," he said. "Why don't you lie down on the bed and take a break?"

Liam shook his head again, back turned towards Scott. "I can't."

"You can. You have to," Scott pushed.

Liam banged his fist on the table. Scott startled.

"I can't go to bed. I have to study," Liam said. "The History exam is tomorrow."

Scott closed the distance between the two of them and looked at the books and papers on Liam's desk. He recognised them from the day before in the library. "You're probably just worrying too much. I have seen you study. You know it."

Liam sighed, tension visibly leaving his shoulders. A silence fell between them, in which Scott watched his betas back rise and fall.

"I've been failing," Liam said.

Scott's face softened. He put his hand on Liam's back. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Liam frowned. "Haven't I?" he countered. "I told you I was busy. I told you I wasn't having trouble with the full moon, but you kept distracting me and bothering me with your stupid concern."

Scott stood there for a moment, blinking at him with widened pupils. "I – I…" he stammered.

Liam sighed, sliding a hand from his neck – his fingers briefly grazed Scott's – through his hair. "Look, Scott, I know you care and all, but I'm fine, honestly. There'll be no wolfing out or wrecking things in the middle of the night. I promise."

Scott nodded, even though he had a reason to doubt that. After all, Liam actually had slipped over the past couple of days. But somehow, standing here now, he had to admit Liam was doing quite well with the moon at full power. The gravity in the room was intense, but Liam wasn't bucking over. Maybe the boy had been right all along, maybe he didn't have trouble with being a werewolf, but more with himself. It had always been hard to determine whether Liam's outbursts were because of his supernatural aspects or because of his I.E.D. There was no denying that. But so many aspects of the two phenomena overlapped and the line had often been very blurry, which made it difficult to determine which one of the two was actually causing them.

But if Liam's struggles had nothing to do with being a werewolf, did that mean Scott was supposed to walk away? Maybe as his alpha, but definitely not as his friend.

"Which age period are you working on?" he asked, closing the distance between them. Liam had sat back down in the meantime, probably thinking that was the end of it and Scott would leave.

Scott felt waves of Liam's frustration pulsing against his skin; red and burning. But when he looked over Liam's shoulder at his work, he suddenly noticed flashes of blue, waves of a calm ocean, cooling.

"Middle Ages," Liam answered with a pained breath. "I keep having trouble with all the dates. They don't stick in my head." He knocked the palm of his hand against this temples.

Scott moved around the chair and sat down on the edge. Liam scooted to the side.

"Okay, well, I still think you should take a break-"

"I can't take a break," Liam interrupted hastily, and being so close, Scott noticed the panic in his eyes for the first time. He smiled reassuringly.

"But if you don't want to, I'll help you study," he said.

"Alright, what have we got…?" He looked at the pages in the book, skimming over the different years and events.

"I always like to make a song about them. Or something that rhymes, you know?"

Liam rubbed his hand together between his legs. "I don't' know. It sounds silly."

Scott ignored him. "Look," he took a pen from the desk and started scribbling. "If you put the dates in chronological order first, it's easier to remember. Then, you write everything that happened under it. A little bit like a timeline."

Liam hummed next to him.

"And then…" Scott trailed off. "Then you try to make them rhyme." His pen hovered over his writing, trying to connect the words in a way that made sense. It proved difficult, because History didn't lend itself to be rhymed with, but eventually Scott managed.

There was a weight on his shoulder. He looked to the side. Liam had fallen asleep! Incredulously, and slightly offended, for he had spent his night time trying to help his friend, Scott watched him. Unbelievable. He huffed out a beaten breath, smiled, and finally just stared in front of him for a couple of minutes. At least Liam was finally resting. For a moment, he pressed his cheek against the boy's soft hair, sighed, but then realised he should probably put the boy to bed. He moved slightly, making an attempt to move, careful not to wake him up.

Liam groaned, mumbled something. Scott froze, and the boy moved his arms around the older guy's chest. Clutching, clamping on to him. Scott pursed his lips, because how was he supposed to get up now? But Liam's weight wasn't actually dragging him now. The boy was lightly snoring now, his breathing causing his body to rock back and forth, like a harboured ship rocking on the sea in the bay. And Scott wasn't moving. He was steady. Steady as a rock, and Liam was clutching onto him, and in that moment Scott mentally face palmed himself, because there was something he hadn't realised all along. Something that, would he have realised it earlier, would have made the entire week so much easier and, God, how could he have been so wrong?

He was Liam's anchor.

Scott shook his head at himself, before wrapping an arm around his beta's waist. His other hand found Liam's hip, and he slowly hauled them both up from the chair. Liam moved uncomfortably.

"Hmm? What?" he mumbled. "Scott?"

"Just taking you to bed," Scott answered quietly, dragging Liam over and laying him down onto his mattress. He took the covers and threw them over the boy. Liam grabbed them and pulled them up under his chin. Scott watched him for a couple of seconds longer, before he decided he should make an attempt to leave.

He walked around the bed, withdrawing the curtains a little and silently opened the window.

"Scott?"

He froze when he heard his name, turning his head back. Liam was looking at him through half-closed eyes.

"You're… Could you…?" Liam shifted, glancing away.

Something Scott swelled inside of Scott's chest, like a balloon filling with hot air. He smiled and closed the window again, walking back over to Liam's bed. He lied down, Liam shifting to the side, before closing back in again, after his arms had wrapped around Scott's upper body.

"I know," Scott whispered, and Liam hummed, neither of them needing words to explain to the other what was going on.

Finally, lying there, looking up at the ceiling of Liam's bedroom, feeling his betas small body warm against his side, one last thought flashed through Scott's mind before he fell asleep.

Maybe paternity just meant love.


End file.
